The place to nurture football talent in Nghe An

The match between Que Phong Youth Union and Quynh Luu Youth Union teams at the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament 2019. Photo: Duc Anh

P.V:Youth and Children's Football TournamentCupNghe An NewspaperWhat role does it play in the club's recruitment?

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Nghia:PresentSLNAhas built 25 football training classes in 21 districts, cities and towns in the province, with the function of searching, persuading, testing and training young players for the club. Through the training process at satellite units, young players will be tested on their expertise and football thinking at the headquarters of SLNA Club. If they pass this final review, the athletes will be officially signed with the Nghe An team.

For the past 2 years, the Club has changed to comply with the regulations and tournament schedule of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF). Accordingly, from 2021, SLNA has opened an additional U9 class. This is the age group that will participate in the National U9 Tournament, according to the VFF youth football competition system. Therefore, we have expanded the age range for selection, selecting talented children from 8 years old and up. The children will be fed, housed, and trained at the Club like other classes in the SLNA Youth Football Training Center.

Over the years, the Youth Football Tournament - Children Cup Nghe An Newspaper has helped SLNA Club, as well as other youth training centers across the country, have more channels to select truly talented athletes. To prepare for this tournament, the localities have made quite serious preparations. The coaches there have worked very hard on the facilities to select the most outstanding young players, bring them back to practice, in order to create a quality team to participate in the tournament. The process of the tournament matches helps scouts to clearly recognize the abilities of the children. From there, we will attract them to participate in training classes at the center.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Nghia - Deputy General Director of SLNA Sports Joint Stock Company, Director of SLNA Youth Football Training Center witnessed a training session of SLNA U17 team before the team participated in the National U17 qualifying round in 2022. Photo: Duc Anh

P.V: Based on what criteria will a player be noticed by scouts?

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Nghia:We rely on criteria such as physique, qualities and especially the children's football thinking to recruit students. For example, when a young player has the ball, he will have 3 or 4 options to make a pass; we will monitor which point the player chooses to pass the ball to his teammate. Even though the pass may not reach his teammate, through that, the scouts will see the player's qualities and football thinking. We also hope that the young players coming to this tournament will play innocently, show all their talents, and contribute to beautiful matches. That is the top criterion that the Organizing Committee wants to aim for.

P.V: How do you evaluate the importance of the Football Tournament?DYouth - Children Cup of Nghe An Newspaper for the development of football in the province in general andtNghe An sports in particular?

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Nghia:The Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth - Children Football Tournament is a tournament with a long tradition, part of the official tournament system of the Nghe An Sports Industry. Over the years, the tournament has been organized in a very methodical, large-scale, highly professional manner and has greatly influenced the development of football in the localities. Through the tournament, it has created a large resource for youth football training centers across the country to select outstanding talented athletes. On the other hand, the tournament is also a useful playground for children during the summer. For them to interact and learn with friends of the same age. In addition, the tournament is also a place to educate children about the noble virtues that the king of sports brings, helping them gain more understanding of the new environment, thereby comprehensively developing the skills of teenagers and children.

Having witnessed many tournaments organized by provinces and cities across the country, I boldly believe that the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth - Children Football Tournament is the tournament with the best quality, based on comparisons in many aspects from organization, tournament regulations, attraction... Therefore, maintaining the tournament is extremely necessary for the development of football in the province.

The first criterion for youth football training centers to select athletes is their football mindset. Photo: Documentary

P.V: The tournament was interrupted for two years due to the impact of the epidemic.SatisfiedHow does this affect youth football training centers?

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Nghia:The pandemic has stalled all sports activities in general, but it has had a more severe impact on football. Young players have been without contact with the ball for a long time, limiting the development of their talents. This has greatly affected the process of forming talents for football in the province.

The tournament not being held will also greatly affect the recruitment work of youth football training centers, especially SLNA Club. Because through the tournament, we have a closer, more realistic view of the truly outstanding athletes to bring back to train as professional players. I am very happy that the tournament has returned, creating great opportunities for children who want to follow the path of professional football, and also very convenient for scouts to find suitable players for their team.

P.V: According to you,what conditionsfor a team to do well in this year's tournament?

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Nghia:In my opinion, for a team to make a mark this season, they need to enter the competition seriously, have a specific plan to find talent, those with real talent for their team. The second step is to have a good enough training schedule and lesson plan to improve the young players' playing ability. On the other hand, we must calculate the children's peak performance to have the right training method. And finally, we must participate in the tournament with a relaxed spirit, giving our all.

P.V: To make the tournament a complete success, bringing a useful playground for the children, what suggestions do you have?

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Nghia:It must be said that the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth and Children Football Tournament is a traditional tournament; the implementation has been drawn from experience over many years. Therefore, I think that this year's tournament will be very successful. I hope that the teams will have careful preparation, to bring a tournament that has great appeal to the audience, becoming a football festival for the children. I have a small suggestion that we should extend the match schedule for a team so that the children have time to recover, thereby, will dedicate to the audience more exciting and beautiful matches.

PV: Thank you for this interview!